


Second Chances

by Discontinued (Constellar_Colfax)



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut (Maybe), Gay, How Do I Tag, Human, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Reincarnation, alternative universe, invader zim - Freeform, will add more tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-12 15:41:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20566802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Constellar_Colfax/pseuds/Discontinued
Summary: A horrible accident.A dark red stain left on the tarmac. Two bodies side by side.Got off on the wrong foot, and ended too soon...Sometimes, all you need is a second chance.(slight gore in the first chapter)





	1. The Gruesome End Before The Beginning

It had all happened way too fast.

I was just another one of those fights. Those happened daily. They would go back and forth over the most stupid things. Sometimes they would get hurt and hurt one another in the process. The intent was never to kill. That was their balance.

Zim couldn’t understand what had happened. He just found himself staring at Dib’s mangled body, which was strewn on the pavement. A steady pool of red leaked out.

Dib was unconscious, but the event was playing through his head, and he wouldn’t change a thing that he had done.

He and Zim were fighting. Dib was on the ground, holding his bruised stomach, and his other hand holding his sore shoulder. Zim was going on about how stupid Dib was, how stupid the earth was, and how Zim was going to invade earth once he had gotten rid of him. Dib heard it all before, it really wasn’t anything new. He let out a large sigh, rolling his head and eyes, looking down the street. His eyes widened once he saw the truck. It was clear the guy who was driving, was inebriated. Dib’s brows furrowed before his eyes widened. It was clear the truck wasn’t slowing down. 

Dib stood up, keeping an eye on the truck that was own the street, “Zim. Get out of the street.” The headlights were coming closer. 

Zim didn’t seem to hear Dib and continued with his rant.

Dib turned to look at the green boy, “Zim! Get out of the street!!!” he yelled, his fists clenched.

Zim turned to look at Dib, a disgruntled look on his face, “What is it Dib stink!? I’m not fin-”

Dib looked back at the truck, it would've been too late. He felt the adrenaline push through him. He ran toward Zim, pushing the invader out of the way with a hard stern arm before his body was hit by the truck. Dib could feel the hot engine of the car through the hood. He felt himself fall onto the concrete and felt two wheels roll over his body. With that, he faded into the unconscious. 

Zim had watched the whole thing happen. The human body was way farther down the street compared to where he was hit. His body was twisted weirdly. Zim felt his heartbeat, feeling it squeeze. He swallowed a lump in his throat. 

The irken looked back down the street, at the truck which had hit Dib. The man had stopped the truck and opened the door. The man’s face sank when he saw the damage done, and the blood… all the blood. Zim blinked, and the man had gotten back into his car, closing the door. Zim wasn’t happy. 

Dib managed to find some strength, despite everything in his body shutting down. He looked up at Zim, smiling softly, “Looks ...like you...you’ve won.” 

Zim looked down at the Dib Stink. He shook his head, lip’s quivering, “...I haven’t won anything. This wasn't…” he stopped talking, putting his head into his hands, trying to not show his weakness more than he already has. 

Dib smiled softly as he felt his heart slow, and the aching in his body slowly disappearing as he fell into his forever sleep. 

The man in the truck had come back down the street, leaving his car, looking at the small green kid which was shaking slightly over the mangled body of the teen he had just run over. He swallowed a lump in his throat and walked towards the two.

“H-hey kid, look, I-I’m sorry about..” the dude hiccupped, “-Bout your friend…. I-If you call the c-cops he might…” 

Zim shot a glare over to the babbling drunk, “You….you killed him. “

The guy let out an awkward chuckle, that of a man who did something wrong but wouldn’t admit it, “N-No I didn’t...He-he didn’t get out of the-”

Zim stood up, turning his body to face the truck driver, “You. Killed. Dib stink.” 

The guy winced when he saw the face of pure anger stained on the kid's face… and the deep red blood that was stained on his pink stripey shirt, “K-Kid, stand back. Everything will be okay...okay?” He held his hand’s out, one hand slowly reaching behind him as he backed up against the car. 

Zim’s pak arms extended, launching himself toward the man. But, Zim never reached the man. He tensed as he felt a sharp pain in his head. His pak’s arm’s dropped him slowly to the ground. He slowly looked up at the drunk driver, feeling a cold liquid drip down his head. His pak glitched, showing him a timer in the corner of his eyes. He didn't have long to live. A few seconds, less than a minute. He looked back up at the man, planning on using these last few seconds making sure no one could identify the assholes body. 

The man was holding a gun. The man’s eyes widened, and he dropped the gun with a yell, before hastily hopping into his car and speeding off around the corner. 

When Zim looked up, the man was nowhere to be seen. Zim decided it wasn’t worth it. His pak’s legs stood Zim up slowly, guiding him back to Dib’s body, slumping him next to him. He reached up to his face, before taking his hand back. He felt his body shiver, his eyes fluttering until they would finally be closed.

Flashing lights of red and blue had soon arrived at the scene. Soon after the gunshot, someone had finally thought of calling emergency services. 

The event would have been covered in the news. ‘Dib Membrane and friend found dead.’ 

The inebriated driver would go on to be arrested for manslaughter, shortly after he would be found, dead in prison. 

Professor Membrane became harder and more stern after Dib’s death, practically bringing gaz to work with him every day.

But, the funny thing about this universe… is that it provides second chances.


	2. Off On A Better Foot Than Before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Born again, though not the same. 
> 
> A shorter than normal boy with black hair and piercing red eyes starts his day off with an attitude, while a tall teenager with a stupid haircut and glasses finds himself unfazed and almost understanding.

Zak pulled his large dark pink sweater over his head, adjusting it, and turning to look himself in the mirror in his bedroom. He ran a hand through his messy black hair, making eye contact with himself. He stared back into his red eyes, and let out a soft sigh, pulling out his phone, checking the time. He was supposed to be out of the door in an hour or so. He had some time to chill out. He headed to the washroom, getting on his tippy toes, looking at himself closer in the mirror. Zak messed around with his face, pulling it gently at parts, and giving a half-assed smile to himself in the mirror, looking at his teeth, then back at his face and hairline, keeping a sharp eye out for any unwanted pimples or blackheads. Just like every morning so far, none were to be spotted. Thank god he was blessed with skin that wasn't stupidly oily like all the other kids at his old school. The one aspect about his face he wasn't proud about, was that he didn't have any facial hair. Even though he looked like a 15-year-old baby, his face was still longer then it was round, which was pretty good. Especially compared to some of the kids he saw in his first year of high school. 

Zak had just moved into this godforsaken city. His parents worked abroad, which left Zak home alone every day. His parents would send him gifts on his birthday, and come down for Christmas when they could. But, Zak rarely ever talked to them otherwise. Zak didn't mind. He was left alone to his own devices. It had been like this since he had gotten into grade 7. His parents gave him an unlimited phone plan, so he could talk to them whenever he needed to, and then they went abroad. 

They eventually decided to sell the house Zak had been living in. The old house was a big place, and Zak rarely went anywhere else in the house aside from his bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchen. It’s not like he had anyone to invite over either, so it really was just a big waste of space. It was rather sad more than anything, a small kid with a house that could fit a family with 4 kids, all to himself. They had come down for a week, telling him that they had started paying rent for a smaller apartment, close to a high school in a bigger city. It was decently Zak sized. The apartment had a kitchen, small dining room, a decent-sized living room, and 2 bedrooms. The smaller one went to his parents, and the bigger one went to Zak, to his surprise.   
It was an optimal space for him to essentially do whatever he wanted. His parents sent him 1000 a month to secure food for himself while they took care of the bills. Although when it came to Zim, he didn’t eat often. He only ate when he realized he started looking too thin. 

Zak had let out a large groan, walking to the living room and falling onto the black fabric of the couch. He looked up at the white, old fashioned, popcorned ceiling. Most of it had fallen off, so there were only a few bumps. Zak sat back up, looking out of the window, which leads to a small balcony. Not big enough to have a whole outside hangout space, but big enough to have a chair and a small table. He stood up, walking towards the balcony, opening the door, leaning on the railing.

He pulled his phone back out, looking at the time. He had 10 minutes to head to school. He looked back off the balcony. He could see his school from where he was clearly, although it had some trees around it for some privacy. The school was old and looked stupid. He was just glad there was trees shielding it from his view. 

He huffed, and headed to the door, feeling his nerves calm slightly as he saw the trench coat he had bought on a whim from a garage sale. Some edgy woman was selling a bunch of random stuff. It seemed like she was growing out of her paranormal hunting years, or something like that. Zak had grabbed the trench coat. The purple-haired lady seemed hesitant to give it away, but took Zak’s money for it. 

Ever since Zak had gotten it, he was rarely seen walking outside without it. It was one of his staples… and, for some reason, he felt better while wearing it. He took the coat off its hook, holding it close to his face for a second, before sighing, and putting it on, grabbing his bag off the floor which he had placed there the night before. He pulled it onto his back and headed out of his apartment.

He walked down the halls, down the stairs, and out the front door of the apartment building, bag hoisted onto his shoulders. Zak looked around at all of the other kids walking to school, sighing abruptly. Part of him wanted as little socialization as he could possibly get away with, but part of him wanted to have a decent reputation. He huffed, looking down at himself. He didn’t look too stupid, did he? Why did he care? He sighed softly, hiding his face behind the collar of the trench coat, taking a breath in. The coat had always calmed him down somewhat. He wasn’t sure what it was about it though. 

When he got to the front of the school, he looked at the doors. Now starting his 10th year in high school, he luckily didn’t have to go to some stupid orientation rally thing. It was really whatever he wanted to do. Though, Zak had no doubt that his homeroom teacher would sen the finest little brat to help him navigate his way around the school. Perhaps he’d be lucky, and the teacher would send one of the lethargic students, who would eventually leave him alone to wander the school hall himself. But, knowing Zak’s luck, that would not be the case. 

He pushed through the door of the school, stopping in his steps as he saw a large crowd of kids all focusing on a spot on the wall. A large sign could be seen above the crowd, ‘Homeroom Classes Here’. He knew he didn’t stand a chance, but he wasn’t about to let himself wait until everyone else was gone. With a firm stride, he pushed through the crowd, not once glancing back at the other students, or even attempting to say any form of apology. He looked at the board, finding the 10th grader list. His eyes went through different classes. Not in 10A or in 10B, meaning he would have to be in 10C. He looked down the list of names, mumbling them slightly out loud to himself before he found himself. “Zak Canmore.” He looked back up beside his class identification number and found the room number. 

He turned around, pushing through the crowd, directly colliding into the chest of black and grey flannel... someone taller than him (which was almost everyone). The kid he had bumped into was about to say something, but Zak shut him up with a groan and furrowed brows, “Watch where you’re going, dumbass,” he shot a glare up at the teen he bumped into.

The kid looked kinda confused, looking back down at Zak, brown eye’s behind framed glasses, “Sheesh, sor-”

Zak clicked his tongue, and pushed past the kid with a hard shove, causing the teen to stumble. 

While zak walked off, he could feel the other teen’s eyes watch him leave. He didn’t care though. 

Don rolled his eyes as he watched the kid who had bumped into him walk-off, shoving his hands into his pockets. He had tried to apologize. Oh well, maybe the kid was having a crappy morning like half of the kids he had encountered so far. That, or conveniently everyone this year had decided it was better to be a jerk then it was to be someone with a good sense of morals and respect. He politely made his way through the crowd, which most of them had now dispersed in search of their homeroom class for the semester. He scanned the board quickly, finding his name nestled nicely under the 10C class. He turned away from the board and headed up the stairs. If he remembered correctly, this class was the astronomy and physics class. Don smiled brightly, glad he got this class for the first semester. He always loved space and wanted to explore the cosmos... He always felt as if his heart had been set out on the stars, and it was part of his journey to go and find it. Becoming one of the scientists to help create the possibility for space travel was his goal. Mainly so he could go explore the cosmos himself. If he leads the design on the ship or perhaps focused on the mechanics, he would have to go on the first expedition, and-

He let out a soft chuckle, running a hand through his black hair, and rubbing the back of his shaved head. He needed to stop doing this fantasizing stuff, or else he is gonna be known for bumping into people at school. He stopped, looking around the hallway he was stopped in. If he recalled, this was the correct location. He looked at the door numbers, his eyes landing on his homeroom. He walked into and through the door, looking around at the classroom. He didn't spot any familiar faces, except for one. 

In one of the far corners of the classroom, he spots the short kid in the trench coat who he had bumped into. He felt his heart skip a beat for a moment, before averting his eyes and approaching the teacher.

The short older woman looked up at Don, and smiled softly, "Ah, it's great to see you again this year Don. I hope you live up to the expectations Mr. Verly has painted of you." 

Don smiled, "Yeah, it sure is Ms.Dmytrus."

The teacher picked up the seating schedule from her table, brows furrowing, "Ah, for the week you will be sitting next to Zak for the week."

The short kid perked up when he heard his name, looking over at the tall teen, wearing a black and white flannel. He furrowed his brow. Of course, that kid was going to be sitting next to him. He let out a groan, folding his arms on the desk and resting his head into them, watching him walk over.

Don sat down next to Zak, "...Hi."

Zak nodded in recognition. Although he didn't want to talk, he figured there was no point in being an asshat. Knowing this kid, he probably would go whine to the teacher over every little swear or broody thing he does. 

Don sighed, leaning back in the chair, looking down at Zak, "... My name's Don. You're new this year, yeah?"

Zak sat up turning to look at Don. Thanks to their seats, they were practically level with one another. He gave Don a fake smile, "Yep. I am."   
Zak's snarky expression changed when he made eye-contact with the tee next to him... 

This kid had so many damn piercings. 

Don got kind of confused when Zak had stopped being a snarky asshole and just stared at him. He was worried something was on his face, reaching up and touching his eyebrow gently, "Oh, you're looking at these?"

Zak had nodded slightly, "... Wh...Why the hell do you have so many piercings."

This teen, the now edgy teen in Zak's mind, had quite a few. Not enough to make him look stupid, but, quite the amount. Don had a septum, eyebrow, and snakebite piercings. Don's ears were another story. They had spacers, and a piercing on each ear that went through the upper part. Zak just stared. 

Don chuckled softly, “I don’t know. I thought they would look cool.” 

Zak reached out, touching the spacers, “...It looks weird.”

Don sat back instinctively, “Yeah, spacers aren’t for everyone. 

Zak let out a small grunt, before pulling away and looking back ahead of him, "I wasn't talking just your ears dumbass. Your hair is stupid and weird-looking too.." Zak muttered, really not intending for Don to hear what he had to say or not. He just wanted the last word in this situation. 

Don couldn’t tell if that interaction went well or not, Don really didn’t care. There was something about Zak he couldn’t shake. A sort of familiarity. Maybe Zak went to one of his old schools? Maybe they were playmates at some point, then their parents lost touch? He wasn't too sure. But the jacket Zak was wearing seemed all too familiar. 

Zak wanted to get this stinky Don kid away from him. This kid didn’t seem to care for his rude or bizarre behaviour… 

Neither of them would dare try to explain or express it. They both knew each other… Be it seeing each other in passing, or having lengthy interactions. Those alien red eyes, and those brown eyes hiding behind the frames of glasses. There was a warm, fuzzy familiarity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahah! If you read this, it probably means you got through the whole chapter, dead or alive!   
I'm not super proud of this, but I still wanted to get something out before I almost completely forget about writing this. 
> 
> This chapter was more so about painting the world and the characters. Also, I hope you guys are able to understand why Dib/Don and Zim/Zak are ever so different. I figured, since they would have rather different childhoods, they wouldn't e the same. Again, I also find most people don't act themselves on the first day of school Though, I can assure all you blokes that Zak and Don will start to file into their good old dynamic... Except for more friendship like I suppose.
> 
> I will still attempt to have an update out every weekend or Wednesday! Sooooo, stay tuned folks! 
> 
> (Criticism and Questions are welcome, if not encouraged!)


	3. Authors Note!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NOT PART OF THE STORY
> 
> MAY DELETE THIS LATER

Sooo, uhm. I'm not sure if you guy's will get a notification, or if you're gonna come back and see this later.   
But, my home laptop's keys stopped working. Particularly, the j and f keys, as well as the 123 keys. I'm not sure what's wrong with it. But, at the moment, I am typing this on my school laptop. I don't think it will be an issue if I use this laptop, but at the same time... I don't want to risk anything. So, it may be a bit before I upload. 

Although it's not necessarily making my laptop absolutely worthless, it's really aggravating for me. I am also still trying to figure out what might've happened and what I can do in regards to it. For all I know, I may just end up using my school laptop for this instead. I don't think it will cause much of an issue. 

So, yeah. Sorry peep. I am working on the next chapter. I just need to lay down more plot before I can start kinda just doing cute fluffy things, I suppose. 

If you are also a fan of Dan-plan, I will likely end up writing some Dan-plan related stuff. Sorry if I end up focusing on that more than invader zim-

AAAh, sorry people. Love y'all. Thanks for reading my fic. Until further notice... Consider this on hiatus. If I can find more inspiration, there'll likely be another update before the end of October.

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic will update on weekends, and maybe Wednesday's. It depends on how much work I get done with each chapter.


End file.
